How does Lady Macbeth change throughout the play, "Macbeth"?
How does Lady Macbeth change throughout the Play? "Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be What thou art promised;" These are the powerful opening lines of Lady Macbeth - the most infamous and indomitable female character in all of Shakespeare's many works, who defies the position of order and gender of her time and used power and ambition to achieve her dreams. Her opening scene in I.v where she is reading the letter from her husband, which proclaims the witches' prophecy, and the following soliloquy are the first exposure to her character, as it allows us an insight into her most intimate thoughts and feelings. At the idea of her husband being possibly made King she jumps straight to the conclusion that he will be, "and shalt be what thou art promised". This is shocking to the audience as her superstition shows her underlying hunger for power by the fact she takes three deranged, women on a moor as the literal truth - any excuse for her to rise in authority. Shakespeare's use of the witches adds drama because at the time the play was written, during the reign of James I, witchcraft and heresy were deemed punishable by death and to "consult with any evil sprit" was illegal under the 1604 Witchcraft Act, so they would have seen it as a scandal that Lady Macbeth believed the witches. She seems even more ruthless by the fact that automatically she presumes that they will
How does Shakespeare create dramatic tension in act 2 scene 2 of Macbeth?
How does Shakespeare create dramatic tension in act 2 scene 2 of Macbeth? Act 2 Scene 2 of Macbeth is a decisive scene in the play as it creates dramatic tension, conflict and controversy. There are many themes in this play: tragedy, the supernatural, love, dishonesty, betrayal and greed. Macbeth murdered Duncan to prove his masculinity for his wife and also his hunger for more power. Lady Macbeth wanted Duncan dead because of her greed and the witches' prophecies influence her. At the beginning of the play Macbeth is brave, content and loyal in contrast to his dark and sinister persona he adapts later on in the play. Whilst the main theme of Macbeth is one of tragic loss (in terms of the death of the King and indeed the loss of Macbeth's mental state), greed also proves to be an influential factor in the downfall of both Macbeth and his wife. It, ultimately, changed their actions and cost them their lives. At the beginning of the scene, Lady Macbeth is feeling confident. She says " What hath quench'd them hath given me fire", this indicating that she is feeling so powerful and inspired that nothing can stand in her way. Despite feeling confident, she feels agitated and remarks "Hark! Peace!" which demonstrates that she is concerned someone has been alerted to the couple's plans and will discover their wretched methods; this sudden feeling of concern contrasts with her prior
Is Iago The Perfect Villain?
Othello Essay 'Is Iago the perfect villain?' Few Shakespearian villains radiate evilness and jealously quite as much as Iago, the unbeknown nemesis of the play's title character, Othello. In other plays written by the bard of Avon the villains can come across as one-dimensional- weak, personified by a flaw in their genetic make-up or unattainable ambition yet Iago is a far more complex and compelling character. True, he has the power to both betray and murder those he once worked alongside, but Iago isn't the complete cold-blooded murderer in the same sense of Macbeth or King Claudius from Hamlet. True, he meticulously plans the death of Cassio but he plans it to be by hands of Rodrigo, his puppet. In the end opportunity presents itself to Iago and he seizes the moment to stab Cassio in the back but the blow fails to kill him. Iago also reveals a moral conscience through his three soliloquy's which I will explore in more detail later. In short Iago is like no other of Shakespeare's villains which makes him an utterly compelling and absorbing character. And like the other characters in the play, Iago delights in absorbing us, the viewer... The tragedy of Othello was believed to have been first performed in the early 1600's and is one of Shakespeare's more famous plays. The play is also rich in historical context and features the Moorish race heavily, leading many to believe
My Choices for Room 101
Traffic Wardens:. The first thing that I would out into room 101 is the money grabbing, cold-hearted, kill joy mugs. These people walk around, head down, scribbling away in their nasty little books, feeling proud of ruining yet another innocent person's day. If you haven't guessed yet, I am talking about the selfish traffic wardens. 99.9% of vehicle/car owners don't even realise that they have done anything to deserve a parking ticket! How would you like it if you had paid for a 1hour pay and display ticket and you came to your care at 1 minute past and a warden was stamping the sticky yellow piece of paper on your windscreen?. For arriving at your car one minute late you have to pay a massive fine of £30. Right, imagine this. You have just had the most wonderful day out with your family, and you all had a good time, suddenly you walk over to your car to find the dreaded yellow ticket. The smiles have now hit the floor. But wait, you check your paid and displayed ticket and you are back before the expiry time...so why are you getting charged? Then you read the note... You put your parking ticket on the wrong side of the windscreen. How can there be a right and wrong side to put a paid and displayed ticket? As I said before, selfish, and the wardens get a little gold star off his boss!!So, I am sure that you will agree with me that the only way to avoid getting a parking
Creative Writing: Miss Havisham
Creative Writing - The day I was broken. As I awoke from my interrupted sleep, the sound of rushing and shouting filled my ears. It was of course the day I had been waiting for my whole life, and by the sounds of it, so had everyone else. I could hear the maids scuttling around, arranging flowers outside my front door. I could hear the clanging of knives and forks against my brand new oak table. My eyes were still closed, I felt as though my dream was finally becoming a delightful reality. Half of me didn't really want to wake up from my dream of the night before where I dreamt of the moment I walked down the aisle accompanied by my Father. I pictured how beautiful I would look, my snow coloured satin dress, flowing behind me, glistening in time with the flickering of the golden candles. I just can't wait! At long last, I opened my eyes to the elegant room I had slept in. Through my thin white silk curtains, I saw the glowing of thick snow upon the ground outside. The day just keeps getting better! The weather was just as I had hoped, and matching my stunningly elegant outfit. It seemed as though God was on my side today, and nothing could get me down. I felt such a buzz of excitement whilst looking at my wedding dress, delicately draped over my glass mirror, which reflected my gleaming fresh face as I sat up. This day, the 22nd of December was my day to shine and not
What is the significance of Piggy in the novel The Lord of the Flies?
What is the significance of Piggy in the novel The Lord of the Flies? The author William Golding uses the character of Piggy to relates to certain themes in the novel. He is linked closely with civilisation, time and the conch which itself represents order. As savagery becomes more intense in the novel, Piggy begins to suffer more injustices and eventually loses his life speaking out against it. Piggy is described by Golding as 'short' and very 'fat'. This has earned him the nickname 'Piggy' in his previous school. It's no coincidence that Piggy's nickname is such, it relates to the overwhelming emotion Jack and his hunters feel when they feel the urge to 'kill the pig'. This indirect metaphor suggests that the boys are killing a part of Piggy each time and that their aggression is directed at him. In fact, while Jack and his gang continue to kill more pigs, the logic and reason which Piggy symbolizes progressively diminishes with the pigs. Piggy's appearance alone has made him an outsider, because the other boys look down on him. He has asmtha and doesn't do much physical work on the island. He is not welcomed on their first exploratory trip of the island. "We don't want you," Jack says to Piggy. It is his academic background and his isolation from the savage boys that had allowed him to remain mostly unchanged from his primitive experiences on the island.
The Rain Horse-Diary Extract.
The Rain Horse-Diary Extract Dear Diary 20th September 1983 Last week was the most evil week in my entire life. I returned home to my countryside village after 12 years of fighting as a boxer in south London. I'm proud of my self after I achieved the heavyweight title. It was just an amazing thing to happen. As I arrived, I went out for a walk around the farm and I noticed a different atmosphere. It was very boring, uninspiring and lifeless. There wasn't a current of air. It was an alien land and like I left it twelve hundred years ago not just twelve years ago. I wanted to see the sunshine and feel the hot weather that reminded me of my childhood but the land was dull, wet and cold. I wanted to leave as quickly as possible. So I kept walking and suddenly something moved in the corner of my eye. There was a strange looking horse on top of the hill. I was very annoyed and irritated because of the rain and mud splashing on my trousers. I felt sick and disgusted at that moment. I looked over my right side and I saw a thin black horse running across the ploughed field towards the hill, its head down, neck stretched out. It didn't look to me like a normal horse, and it seemed to be staring at me. It wasn't like the pony we had when I was young. This horse seemed to have gone astray, and to be behaving strangely. I walked a few
Effectiveness of death of Simon
The effectiveness of the death of Simon At the beginning of the chapter, Simon realizes that the boys have mistaken the parachutist for the deadly beast that has plunged their entire group into chaos. Adding to his Christ like figure, he frees the parachutist from the rocks, and then, anxious to prove to the group that the beast is not real after all, Simon staggers down the mountain toward the distant light of the fire at Jack's feast to tell the other boys what he has seen. Golding uses the weather throughout the chapter to show the build up of tension on the island and then a release of all the built up tension. He opens the chapter with a sinister description of the odd weather on the island, with the "brassy glare" of the sky where "colours drained" and "nothing prospered". During the climax and the killing of Simon, the weather stimulates the confused frenzy as a streak of lightning is described as a "blue white scar" above the boys and the "dark sky shattered". Simon's death brings about the use of weather again used as a downpour erupts, as though the weather were responding to the boys' actions and because Simon is always very closely connected with nature, so the rain may represent tears - "the clouds opened...poured" Golding uses this thunderstorm as a means of terror and the result is that the fear drives the boys together. In the rain, Ralph asks Jack how
How Do You Respond To Mid-Term Break? What techniques does Heaney use? Having read the title 'Mid-Term Break', I assumed that the poem
How Do You Respond To Mid-Term Break? What techniques does Heaney use? Having read the title 'Mid-Term Break', I assumed that the poem was about a student's holiday abroad or something similar, however as I progressed through reading the play, I realized that it had a different meaning. The poem has a very deceiving title, a mid-term break is supposed to be a joyous time of holiday but here Heaney must deal with the death of a family member. This misleading title is the first technique used by Heaney to attract the attention of the reader. The poem is also told in first person and this gives the effect that the emotions come straight from the boy to the reader. We respond directly to the boy, which provokes greater sympathy in us when we find out that his brother dies. The first stanza is telling us that the boy is away from home, isolated, upset and waiting. It is made up of short sentences to build up tension and create shock as though the reader is expecting something to happen. One phrase that struck me was 'our neighbors drove me home'. This suggested to me that something had happened as usually a student's parents take them to and from school. We then find out that the father, apparently always strong at other funerals, is distraught, while the mother is too angry to cry. Also the euphemism used by 'Big Jim Evans' - 'it's a hard blow'. Having read this I
Lord of the flies: How does Golding Present the Loss of Innocence?
Lord of the flies: How does Golding Present the Loss of Innocence? In Goldings' Lord of the flies, the boys slowly loose their civilisation and become savages as they also loose their innocence as their original sin is revealed represented by the 'beast'. He slowly describes them in ways to show us the change from what we know as good to evil. As Golding unveils the boy's original sin, he slowly begins to refer to the boys as savages and even devils. He writes "...behind the tribe and the anonymous devils' face swarmed across the neck." This is very effective as it indicates to the reader that Golding now I confirming the boys are drenched in Original sin as he labels them 'devils' after they have killed Piggy. The innocence of the boys is lost as two of the boys are killed by other boys on the island. Piggy is killed when Roger releases a very large rock and it plunges him to his death. It says "...Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back...his head opened and stuff came out and turned red." In this quote, Golding uses quite colloquial language to describe Piggys' death. By using the word 'stuff' rather than the distinctive language he used to show us the meaning of Simons' death, the effect of this is that although Piggy was a main character, he did not have a special meaning in this book. At the start of the book were Jack was faced with the challenge of killing a
